Amber Rudd has condemned the Parsons Green blast

London mayor Sadiq Khan says he’s “not going to resile from what I’ve been saying for the last 16 months” about the level of funding for the capital’s police.

Updated at 12:49

‘These cowardly attacks only make us more determined’ – London Assembly chair

The chair of the London Assembly has released a statement about the attack:

Our hearts go out to everyone injured in the Parsons Green explosion and once again we thank the emergency services for their prompt and professional care. These cowardly incidents only make us more determined to defy anyone who would attack us. Their attempts to disrupt our lives will not succeed and nothing they can do will sway us. We stand firm alongside all Londoners daily – and especially today.”

Jennette Arnold OBE AM Chair of the London Assembly

Updated at 12:37

‘Those responsible will be caught’ – Sadiq Khan

Updated at 12:34

253 people evacuated from Tube train

Six fire engines, two fire rescue units and around 50 firefighters and specialist officers are currently attending Parsons Green Tube station.

London Fire Brigade’s director of operations Tom George said: “The Brigade was called at 0821 and firefighters were on the scene within three minutes.

“Fire crews assisted the London Ambulance Service in treating casualties on the affected train.

“Firefighters also helped evacuate 253 people from a train not involved in the incident.”

Updated at 12:29

Sky News’ Home Affairs Correspondent Mark White says security sources have confirmed they believe there was a timer attached to the improvised explosive device.

He says this means “whoever it was that placed this bomb on the carriage floor would not have been present at the time”.

“So perhaps – as we’ve seen with other attacks in the past where it’s not a suicide bombing – you get that individual maybe a minute or two before the bomb detonates, placing the device and then heading off at a station,” he adds.

“That is important as well. If there’s a timer with this device it will give them an indication that perhaps the suspect didn’t disembark the train with other panicked passengers at Parsons Green.”

He says counter-terror officers will be “looking at the stations before Parsons Green to determine whether an individual left the train at that point”.

Updated at 12:27

Community opens up near Parsons Green following today’s attack, as residents offer their homes as spots to charge phones and use the toilet

Updated at 12:24

Met Police not commenting on Donald Trump’s tweets

The Metropolitan Police would not be drawn on Donald Trump’s comments that the “demented and sick people were in the sights of Scotland Yard”.

“It is not something we would comment on,” a spokeswoman said.

Updated at 12:21

Unconfirmed Reports: Device at Parsons Green station had timer

Updated at 12:19

Nursery evacuated by armed police

Armed police entered a nursery school close to Parsons Green station this morning following the explosion on a Tube train.

Children and parents were arriving at Zebedee Nursery when police were called to the incident.

Parents at the school said children were kept inside by armed officers.

The principal Susan Gahan told BBC News: “The police were amazing, we didn’t have many children as parents couldn’t get to us

“Everything was very calm and organised,” she said.

Updated at 12:15

Update: 22 now being treated in hospital

NHS England say there are now 22 people being treated across four hospital trusts in London.

Updated at 12:14

Terrorism Police UK – Support is available for anyone affected by the incident in Parsons Green

TFL are also offering support

Updated at 12:10

‘We thought it was never going to happen here. But it did happen here’

“We have got to have a plan of action so, wherever you are, just be vigilant – that’s the most important thing” say witnesses

Updated at 12:09

‘I saw steam coming out the top of the Tube’

‘We saw orange flash engulf the whole tube like you would see in the movies’ describe witnesses

Updated at 12:03

Trump: US needs tougher travel ban

Donald Trump has now used the Parsons Green bombing to push for his controversial travel ban.

Updated at 12:00

Labour leader thanks emergency services

Thoughts with those injured in Parsons Green terrorist incident, and thanks to police, ambulance staff and firefighters who are responding.

Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Leader

Updated at 11:55

The Prime Minister is travelling down from her Maidenhead constituency to chair this afternoon’s COBRA meeting, Downing Street says.

Updated at 11:54

Trump denounces ‘loser terrorist’

Another attack in London by a loser terrorist.These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive! Loser terrorists must be dealt with in a much tougher manner. The internet is their main recruitment tool which we must cut off & use better! – Donald Trump, American President

Updated at 11:50

Police appeal for images and video

If you have anything on your phone that could help the police operation, you can upload the material via this webpage.

Updated at 11:42

Met Police confirm explosion

The Met Police’s assistant commissioner Mark Rowley confirms there was “an explosion on a Tube train”.

He says: “It now seems there was a detonation of an improvised explosive device”.

Most of the 18 injured suffered “flash burns”, he adds and tells Londoners they should expect to see an increased police presence – particularly on transport – during the rest of the day.

Updated at 11:40

‘Fireball charred my head’

Peter Crowley has shared a picture of his “charred” head he says he suffered from a “fireball” at Parsons Green.

Update at 11:37

‘People were taking selfies’

Ryan Barnett, who was caught up in the crush at Parsons Green station, says he saw people “taking selfies”.

He told the Press Association: “I was lucky, I wasn’t in the carriage, I was in a few carriages down but I was caught up in the stampede down the stairs.

“I was sitting there, headphones in, at Parsons Green, the doors open fine, I’m not really paying attention and all of a sudden hundreds of people run past me screaming a mixture of ‘stampede’, ‘attack’, ‘terrorist’, ‘explosion’, ‘get off the train’, ‘everyone run’.

“Parsons Green station has a staircase at the front of the carriage where the train pulls up – I’m running and keeping my head down because there might be gunfire and on to the staircase.

“But when I was on the staircase, the stewards and other passengers, they are shouting ‘stop, stop, stop’, so I ended up squashed on the staircase, people were falling over, people fainting crying, there were little kids clinging on to the back of me.

“It is absolute chaos, it was quite scary because at one stage we thought we might be trapped there – I heard a pregnant woman lost her shoes and had fallen over.”

He added: “Someone said there had been an explosion, there was white stuff, someone said there was a lot of wires, one girl outside the station had her leg pretty badly cut up.

“People were saying there was one man who was singed down the side of his body, including his hair.

“It felt like an eternity, but it was only a couple of minutes, probably.

“There were a lot of people taking photos, there was a couple of people taking selfies and I thought: ‘What is the world coming to?”‘

Update at 11:36

People ‘crawling over one another’

Commuter Aaron Butterfield was trying to get into the station to get to work.

“People weren’t even running, they were literally crawling over one another and just fleeing I guess,” he said.

The production manager said police had told him there had been an explosion and “someone was running around with a knife”.

‘There was a human stampede’

We got on the train at Parsons Green, then I heard lots of screams and people saying ‘run, run’. We got out of the train and then there was a human stampede, down the stairs. There were people lying underneath getting crushed. I wedged myself in next to a railing, I put myself in the feotal position. I kept thinking, ‘I’ll be ok, I’ll be ok.’ There was a pregnant woman underneath me, and I was trying really hard not to crush her. I can’t think how many people were underneath me in the crush. The fire brigade was telling us to get back on the platform, but no-one was. There was a full Tube worth of people on the steps – hundreds of people. I saw a lady with water being poured over the face and hands who I think had been burnt in the explosion. The injuries from the stampede seemed the worst. I’m outside now, there are women crying and people sitting on the floor.”

Emma Stevie, 27 Witness at Parsons Green

Update at 11:28

Forensic officers investigate near Tube train

Update at 11:24

Amber Rudd MP: Grateful for the swift response from emergency services at Parsons Green, my thoughts are with the victims of this terrorist incident. I’m being kept updated and important the police and security services are able to get on with their jobs

Update at 11:21

18 in hospital after Parsons Green incident

Natasha Wills, assistant director of operations at London Ambulance Service says: “We can confirm we have taken 18 patients to hospital following the incident at Parsons Green underground station.

“We were called at 8:20am today, with the first ambulance crew arriving within five minutes.

“We have sent a number of resources to the scene including ambulance crews, officers and our Hazardous Area Response Team.

“We are working closely with our colleagues from the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and London Fire Brigade at the scene; ensuring patients receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible.

“As we are very busy dealing with this incident, we would ask the public to only call us in a genuine emergency.”

Update at 11:16

Parsons Green Tube explosion: What we know so far

Emergency services including police, fire and ambulance were called at about 08:20 BST after reports of an explosion on a London-bound District Line train at Parsons Green

Witnesses described seeing a white “builder’s bucket” in a supermarket bag which was on fire and a “wall of flame” in the train carriage

Some people who were in the station said they saw “panicked scenes” with people being crushed by others as they tried to escape

Police said “a number of people” have been injured and St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington has declared a major incident

About two hours after the explosion happened the Met confirmed it is treating it as a terrorist incident

Update at 11:13

Anyone who has any info that would assist is urged to contact the hotline 0800 789 321; if it’s an emergency always call 999 – The Met Police

Update at 11:11

The PM will chair an emergency Cobra meeting this afternoon at 1pm

Update at 11:03

Eleven major incidents this year

This is the fifth terrorism incident of 2017 in which an attack has taken place. It’s the only one this year in which nobody has died. The previous four saw 36 people killed.

Police believe they have stopped six other significant plots – all of which will soon be coming before the courts.

Put plainly, this is the most sustained period of terrorist activity in England since the IRA bombing campaign of the early 1970s.

What happens now? The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command needs to get to the bottom of three key questions. One: Who did it? Two: Are there any more devices out there? Three: Who else, if anyone, is involved?

Experts from the government’s secret explosives research laboratory will be looking at the evidence from the train and seeing whether it matches anything else they have seen before.

Update at 10:55

Former counter-terror chief: Looks like a pressure cooker device

“The looks a pressure cooker device that has malfunctioned” says former MOD Head of Counter-Terrorism

Update at 10:53

‘People were running down the tracks’

Passengers on the train behind the affected Tube train say they witnessed terrified passengers sprinting along the track. Nicole Linnell, 29, who works for a fashion label, says: “We saw people running down the tracks. About 30 or 40 people.

“It was absolutely terrifying. Running on the tracks is the last thing you want to do, so we were like ‘What’s going on?’ After about an hour we were evacuated off the train on to the tracks. About 10 to 15 people at a time.”

Update at 10:51

‘We will never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism’ – Sadiq Khan

The mayor of London has released a statement:

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that the explosion on a train at Parsons Green Station this morning is being treated as terrorism. Our city utterly condemns the hideous individuals who attempt to use terror to harm us and destroy our way of life. As London has proven again and again, we will never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism. I am in close contact with the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, Government and other emergency services who are responding at the scene and leading the investigation. I will be attending the emergency COBRA meeting in Whitehall this afternoon with the Prime Minister. My sincere gratitude goes to all our courageous emergency responders and the TfL staff who were first on the scene. I urge all Londoners to remain calm and vigilant, and to check TfL’s website for travel advice.”

Sadiq Khan Mayor of London

Update at 10:48

‘It looked home-made’

Sylvain Pennec, a software developer from Southfields, near Wimbledon, who took images of the bucket, said: “I heard a boom and when I looked there were flames all around.

“People started to run but we were lucky to be stopping at Parsons Green as the door started to open.”

He described what “looked like a bucket of mayonnaise”, adding: “I’m not sure if it was a chemical reaction or something else, but it looked home-made.”

“I’m not an expert though.”

Update 10:45

‘Chemical smell on train’

Chris Wildish, a passenger on the train say a chemical smell came from the train and then a stampede followed as people ran.”

He described an item on the train as a “white builder’s bucket” with flames coming from it, wires hanging from it and emitting a strong smell of chemicals.

‘Thoughts are with those injured’ – PM

PM to chair Cobra emergencies committee meeting

Prime Minister Theresa May is to chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergencies committee this afternoon to discuss the terrorist incident at Parsons Green.

Update at: 10: 24

Scotland Yard says an explosion on a Tube train at #ParsonsGreen station in West #London is being treated as a terrorist incident. Here is the statement released by The Met:

“Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are investigating after an incident on a London tube train this morning. Police were called at approximately 08:20 BST on Friday, 15 September to Parsons Green Underground Station following reports of a fire on the train. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the senior national coordinator for CT policing, has declared it a terrorist incident. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service and British Transport Police attended the scene, along with colleagues from the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service. At present we are aware of a number of people who have suffered injuries. It is too early to confirm the cause of the fire, which will be subject to the investigation that is now underway by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command. The station remains cordoned off and we are advising people to avoid the area.”